Morning Glory <\/i>is generally regarded as Oasis\u2019 crowning achievement, at least commercially, selling tens of millions of records worldwide and the pinnacle of their success. That it was their second album is beside the point; the band showed on Definitely Maybe <\/i>what they were all about, and so their second album had the luxury to slow down the tempos, add strings and layers of sound, and create an epic work. <\/p>\n
At the time, Noel Gallagher was writing so many good songs that kept getting shunted, in true Beatles fashion, to singles. The Masterplan <\/i>is the true follow-up to this record, rounding up many of those tracks; Familiar To Millions <\/i>showed how they were in a live setting, and for many that is where the story of Oasis ends.<\/p>\n
Of course, they sludged on for another 15 years, with increasingly diminished returns both commercially and artistically, although I still maintain there are some very good tracks tucked away on Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants <\/i>and Dig Out Your Soul<\/i> for those who want to dig. But anyway, it was inevitable that Morning Glory <\/i>would warrant a 30th anniversary release, and the record label delivered with a three-album effort in very nice packaging.<\/p>\n
Except\u2026 the packaging is the best part of the reissue. So little thought was put into this effort that it\u2019s a waste for fans, a way to fleece them out of money without offering anything useful in return. First: It\u2019s not a new reissue, but the 2014 version. If you bought it then, you don\u2019t need this one.<\/p>\n
Second, the only bonus tracks are five acoustic versions, four of songs from this album and one of the era single \u201cAcquiesce.\u201d Sounds cool in theory, except the songs are actually the originals with the electric instruments removed and new drum and acoustic parts added in the studio. Liam\u2019s vocals are left intact. Had it been a cool organic live version from a show we haven\u2019t heard, or a new recording, that would be one thing, but this Frankenstein-assembled approach just feels wrong, like something engineered to justify the $75 price tag and tack on a third <\/i>album, since the original is spread across two albums for some reason.<\/p>\n
So what works? On the original \u201995 vinyl release, \u201cBonehead\u2019s Bank Holiday\u201d was slotted right before \u201cSome Might Say,\u201d so as to start the second side with that track, and although it\u2019s a goof (like \u201cDigsy\u2019s Diner\u201d from the previous record), it\u2019s a fun little diversion. Most who own the CD have never heard it, and to be honest it doesn\u2019t fit the tenor of the more serious tracks that surround it. Good to see it make an appearance here. Also, of the acoustic tracks, \u201cCast No Shadow,\u201d \u201cMorning Glory\u201d and \u201cAcquiesce\u201d are good even in this stripped-down, made-up setting. You can\u2019t kill a great song. <\/p>\n
Of course, if you love the album and don\u2019t have it on vinyl yet, and are willing to spend the cash, some of Oasis\u2019 greatest works are here, and even 30 years on, the rush of \u201cHello\u201d and \u201cMorning Glory,\u201d the ridiculous majesty of \u201cChampagne Supernova\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Look Back In Anger,\u201d the deathless \u201cWonderwall,\u201d and the underrated album tracks \u201cShe\u2019s Electric\u201d and \u201cSome Might Say\u201d still hold up. <\/p>\n
But presenting this as a deluxe package is just absurd when there are no singles, live tracks, goodies from the vault, in-process cuts, anything. It does a disservice to Oasis\u2019 second-best album, one that is a cultural touchstone, and especially when there is enough material out there to make this worthwhile. Check it out on your preferred streaming service if you\u2019d like, but there\u2019s no reason to spend the cash for this low-effort reissue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":35373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6400],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-47268","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-oasis","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47268"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}